Sick
by Michi41
Summary: When Phineas gets sick, Ferb invites Isabella over to keep him company since he isn't allowed to see his brother. Isabella, however, gets frantic over her crush being so ill. One-shot.


**A/N: As suggested by RoyallyScrewedOver, here is a simple FerbxIsabella friendship story. I find their relationship to be very interesting, since we don't know a whole lot about it other than the fact that Ferb knows of Isabella's crush on Phineas. That's kind of it, really. They don't get a whole lot of one on one moments in the show, so this is how I see their relationship…without Phineas there. You'll see.**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, we're Dan and Swampy and we decided to come on here and write fanfics for our own TV show that we could easily put in as plots. Note the very heavy sarcasm.**

* * *

_A-HAAK! A-HAAK!_

Ten-year old Ferb Fletcher tried his best not to grimace at the noises that his stepbrother was currently producing from his throat. The sounds were excruciatingly painful to hear, considering the fact that they were coming all the way from their bedroom on the top floor and traveling all the way down to the kitchen table, which was Ferb's current location as he attempted to eat his cereal.

Lawrence, Ferb's father, glanced over at the boy over his newspaper. "Is everything all right, son?" he wondered, setting the news with the current headline of _NERD RESCUED FROM TREE WITH NO HARM _on the very top down.

The green-haired boy just simply shrugged and stared down at his now soggy cereal, mind swimming with thoughts of Phineas. How long would he be of such a sickness? The previous morning, he had been the typical Phineas, cheerful, kind, talkative. But during the evening, after coming home from a Chinese restaurant, he had run to the bathroom and thrown up.

His mother blamed it on bad sushi, but Ferb didn't buy it. How in heaven's name would Phineas have gotten such a violent cough from _sushi_? A bad stomachache and some vomiting, sure. But a cough? Not likely, at least from Ferb's perspective. It made no sense whatsoever.

Lawrence frowned slightly at Ferb's as-usual non-emotional response to his question. "Are you sure?" he asked him. "I mean, it _is _quite blustery out, so you wouldn't be able to go outside anyway, but goodness, you have to be somewhat concerned, do you not?"

Ferb shot his father a somewhat irritated glare. Just because he didn't put a lot of emotion into his expressions half of the time, that didn't mean he didn't have emotion on the _inside_. Lawrence recoiled slightly at seeing his preteen son in such a way before chuckling. "I was just messing with you," he assured him, and Ferb relaxed. "I know how concerned you are of your brother. Unfortunately, you would likely not wish to go up the stairway to your room, would you? You don't want to get sick as well."

Ferb bit his lip as he nodded.

"Well…" Lawrence sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm afraid that I have to assist your mother at the antique store this morning. Such a horrible day to do so, considering it's as rainy as muck outside and we have a large order coming in, but I must." He glanced over at Ferb as he got up. "You enjoy yourself, you hear? Candace is over at Stacy's, so we all know she won't be here for quite a while, so you won't have to worry about her. As for Phineas, just let him sleep and slowly recover."

The ten-year old sighed slightly, and Lawrence gave him a tentative grin. "I know, I know, you want to see him. But you have other friends too, do you not? There's Isabella, Buford, Blajeet-"

"Baljeet, father," Ferb corrected, shooting his father a sheepish glance. "Sorry."

"Quite all right. Now, I must be on my way, otherwise your mother will be throwing a hissy when I get there late. Cheerio."

The greenhead nodded at him as he walked out of the house and into the car. Ferb then glanced over at the telephone as he considered the options his father had given him. He knew Buford and Baljeet were not available, as Buford had proclaimed the previous day when they were creating a fruit galaxy that he was taking Baljeet somewhere the next day. Ferb didn't care to know what exactly that was purely for his Indian friend's sake.

But Isabella was still available, he realized. She didn't have a Fireside Girls meeting, so she would likely be free. So he picked up the cell phone his parents had gotten him (for emergencies, they claimed) and sent a quick text to his closest female friend.

_Meet me in my house. It's important._

* * *

"I got your text, Ferb," Isabella told him as he let her inside of the house. Thunder boomed outside, and she jumped slightly before she continued. "What's the matter? Did something happen?"

He raised his index finger in the air, silencing her. All of a sudden, the sound of the terrible cough came drifting down the stairs.

_A-HAAK! A-HAAK!_

Isabella's eyes widened as she covered her mouth. "Oh, my goodness!" she gasped, and her friend nodded slowly. "Is that Phineas?"

Ferb gave her a look, and she bit her lip. "Sorry," she muttered. "Stupid question. Of _course _it's Phineas. Why else wouldn't he be here, rambling about his latest project or wondering where Perry is? Or thinking about being with me…" She sighed happily.

When Ferb knew that she wasn't looking, he rolled his eyes half-heartedly. He, like everyone else in the universe (literally), knew of the girl's crush on his brother. It got quite annoying at times, since Phineas was so darn oblivious it was hard not to smack him sometimes, but at least she didn't devote her entire _life _to him.

"But anyway," Isabella continued, and Ferb snapped back into reality. "Seriously Ferb, is something wrong with him? That cough didn't sound particularly normal. Do you want me to call Ginger's mom? She took out my tonsils, you know."

When all Ferb did was shake his head, she gave him a look of dismay. "Why not?" she asked, almost pleadingly. "He doesn't deserve to feel sick! What he does deserve is someone who can care for him while he's this way! He-"

Her friend put his finger over her lips, silencing her once again. He shook his head and went over to the medicine cabinet, of which he opened for Isabella. Inside were, well, medicines, but they all had prescriptions on them.

"Oh…" she whispered, biting her lip as she read a label. "He's _that _sick, huh?"

When Ferb nodded, she sighed and put her head in her hands. "Gosh, I'm so _stupid _sometimes," she muttered. "I should have known that we couldn't go see him. Why do I always just jump to conclusions?"

"You didn't," Ferb replied, which got the girl's attention as he didn't often respond to what people had to say. When she gave him a confused look, he continued with a small smile. "You were only caring for your friend. That's normal, no?"

"Well…" the raven-haired girl struggled to think of the right words as she slowly sank down into a kitchen chair. "I suppose."

He nodded, going back to his silent state. They both kind of just sat there for a minute until Isabella found the right words to say. "Thanks, Ferb," she said quietly, getting up and hugging him. Although taken aback, Ferb did the same for her. "You may be quiet, yet you always seem to have all of the answers. That's what I like about you."

They stood there for a moment longer before they heard the door slam open and feet stomping on the ground. It was Candace, moaning and groaning as she walked into the house. The two immediately separated, blushing slightly, as she stormed into the room.

"It's a freaking DUMP out there!" she whined as she went to the fridge and pulled out an apple, of which she looked at with disgust before tossing it back in and shutting the door. "Have you HEARD the rain pouring outside? And Stacy's mom just HAD to get her car fixed TODAY of all days, so I had to _walk_ over here!"

"That stinks," Isabella commiserated.

"It does!" Candace irritably agreed. "Now I'm SOAKED!"

As she continued to scream loudly, Ferb turned to Isabella, who was looking a little irritated by the fifteen-year old's reaction to the rain outside. Not that he blamed her. Candace had a tendency to make people mad at her quickly.

"So…um, should I leave?" his best female friend wondered as she slowly rose from her sitting place at the table.

He shrugged.

"Well, I've got to get home anyway," she sighed as she went to grab her coat. "Tell Phineas if you see him that I wish him well."

Ferb nodded again as she slowly opened the door. "Oh, and Ferb?" she inquired, and he stared blankly at her the way he often did as he waited for her to continue.

"Thanks. For everything," she added before closing the front door behind her.

* * *

**Well, I've got some Ferbella friendship, but I managed to throw just a little bit of romance in there to satisfy the Ferbella fans. How'd I do?**


End file.
